Meeting in Cheyenne

July 30,2915 we met Jim and Barb Mencin inCheyenne to begin our "Yellowstone trip".
We made an appointment to have a tour of the Capitol with our guide Lynette.

The original building  was completed in 1886 for less than $150,000. The east and weat wings were completed in 1890.

A couple of Capitol tidbits:

Outside the House Chamber there are a series of photos of the members as a group.  In 1915 on unhappy member grabbed the photo from the wall to hit it over the head of another legislator. The picture tore when the man put up his hand to shield himself. It has never been repaired.

One of the photos shows one legislator wearing a red tie while the entire picture is in back and white.

His friends thought it funny to color in this very shy representative after the picture was taken to ensure he would always be remembered.

The second spindle from the top of one of the staircases was installed upside down to reflect the carver's belief that only God makes things perfect.

The dome was originally copper, but later gilded with gold leaf it keep it from turning. It takes only one once of gold to gild the entire dome.

Barbara and I had our picture taken beside one of many boots found around town. This was is outside the Union Pacific Train Depot. Hope the guy doesn't cme back looking for his boot.

Union Pacific railroad had 25 Big Boy engines build to help transport goods over the mountains. The one in this photo, #4094, is found in a local park. They are now restoring Big Boy #4014 so it will be completely functional.